Thankfully, things do seem to settle down a bit more in the character department here as it spends its focus on Nagi. Which is a good thing since she is pretty much a lead character here, albeit one that’s pretty spastic in many ways with her growth towards becoming a manga author that never actually does any of the work. Through the episode here, we get to see her routine and how she lives her life, and how Maria does what she can to keep her on the straight and narrow, and it’s definitely a difficult job for him considering her nature. Nagi does try to do the right thing herself at times, such as a bit of exercise and living right, but as she keeps discovering, it’s really something that’s just tiring and not altogether much fun. Which, having known people like that, isn’t an uncommon trait and they capture it pretty well here. She has the advantage of wealth to have all the creature comforts though.
There are some good times in small form in the first half-plus of the episode, including an extended time where she rents and R-18 movie called Vattalion, which is her first exposure to a real horror movie. And it certainly freaks her out as she even wants Hayate to sleep with her in order to be with her 24/7. It’s fun to see it unfold, especially with the end gag with Maria herself watching the movie and her reaction to it. The post-commercial period of the show deals with her not wanting to go to school on a rainy day and it’s like trying to herd a cat for Hayate as she’s so adamant about it and his methods don’t work for her in the least. This leads him to trying to get different quotes to help motivate her and that draws in other women of the series, since that’s all he knows. The quotes are amusing and fun as they say a lot about each of the characters in simple ways.
